Christopher Grant Champlin (April 12, 1768March 18, 1840) was

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, Senator and a slave trader from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

Biography

He was born in Newport in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the oldest child and only son of the merchant ship owner and Newport slave trader Christopher Champlin (b. 1731). His uncle George Champlin was a member of the Rhode Island Legislature and also funded slave voyages to Africa; his niece, Elizabeth Mason (daughter of his sister of the same name), married Commodore

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...

. His great nephew was architect George Champlin Mason Sr. (1820-1894). After completing preparatory studies, Champlin entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, from which he graduated in 1786, then going on to continue his studies at the

College of St. Omer A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

in France. On his return, he settled in New York, where he lost a fortune speculating in the stock market with his fathers' proceeds from mercantile business and slave trading.Christopher Champlin Papers
In Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, Rhode Island. He returned to Newport, was an investor with his father and uncle in at least one slave voyage (the Brig Elizabeth), and married Martha Redwood Ellery (b. 1772), in 1793. They had one child, a son who died young. For several years after his marriage, Champlin worked as an assistant to his father in the shipping business. In 1796, Champlin decided to run for Congress. To strengthen his chances, he swore that he had not speculated in southern real estate and that he would not use a congressional position to further his own investments. However, it was later revealed that he had lied about his southern land interests, as he had speculated heavily in the Tennessee Company with a college friend. In any case, Champlin was elected as a Federalist to the Fifth and Sixth Congresses (March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1801). During this period, he took part in a duel with a Delaware congressman, James A. Bayard. He continued to engage in mercantile pursuits, and was later elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Francis Malbone and served from June 26, 1809 until October 2, 1811, when he resigned and returned to Rhode Island. Champlin was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1814. Champlin served as commanding officer (with rank of colonel) of the

Newport Artillery Company The Newport Artillery Company of Newport, Rhode Island was chartered in 1741 by the Rhode Island General Assembly during the reign of King George II of Great Britain. It is the oldest military unit in the United States operating under its origina ...

from 1815 to 1818. He commanded the company when it responded to the

1815 New England hurricane The Great September Gale of 1815 (the word "hurricane" was not yet current in American English) is one of five "major hurricanes" (Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale) to strike New England since 1635. At the time it struck, t ...

, also known as the Great Gale of 1815. As a measure of their gratitude, the Newport town council made the following resolution: ''"Voted and resolved that the thanks of the town Council be presented to Colonel C. G. Champlin and the officers and privates of the Artillery Company of the town of Newport under his command for the prompt attention they paid to the request of said town council to turn out and guard the property of the unfortunate sufferers in the late destructive storm, and for their good conduct while on duty."'' He attended Newport's Congregationalist Church. Champlin was president of the Rhode Island Bank until a short time before his death in Newport in 1840; interment was in Common Burial Ground.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champlin, Christopher G. 1768 births 1840 deaths United States senators from Rhode Island Harvard College alumni Federalist Party United States senators Burials in Rhode Island Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island Members of the American Antiquarian Society Burials at Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery